"Mostly, I Just Want to See More Women Submitting." A Talk With Caroline Eick of Another Chicago Magazine

Can you tell us a bit about Another Chicago Magazine and how you came to be involved?

Another Chicago Magazine is a literary magazine that publishes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. We’re 37 years old, which makes us ancient in literary magazine years. I came to be involved in 2012, because the publisher, Curbside Splendor, thought the magazine needed someone to help hold all of the pieces together.

If you are at all involved in the literary scene in Chicago, chances are you’ve been involved with ACM at some point. I am constantly fielding emails from former editors and contributors.

The magazine has changed a lot over the years. We used to accept plays, art, interviews, book reviews, but this current approach is cleaner, much more focused, and helps define what kind of publication we are. We have a history of publishing erratically, but we’re working to get on a schedule. The masthead has been a bit of a revolving door over the past few years. But we’re finally in a good place.

With Chicago in the magazine's title, I've got to ask: how does the city shape ACM? I know some magazines seem to be free of place, without definite ties to one city while others have a distinct flavor of place, if you will.

This question makes me a little teary, actually. I just moved to NYC. I love Chicago, but needed a change of scenery. Since I started with ACM, we’ve kicked around different ideas about how to make ourselves more known outside of Chicago, and I think my move may facilitate this goal.

I know that in a recent interview you said that a rambling cover letter is a deal-breaker in a submission. Is there anything that as an editor you would like to see more of in submissions?

Mostly, I just want to see more women submitting. I don’t imagine that ACM has a history of only publishing men, but we receive far fewer submissions from women, especially for poetry. So, ladies, please send us your work.

Has being an editor changed how you approach reading/writing?

Of course! I don’t have much patience, and I don’t have much time. Luckily, I can lean on the editors for recommendations. It helps that we’ve published such great people. In this last issue of ACM, we had work by Kyle Minor (PRAYING DRUNK) and Samantha Irby (MEATY). It was thrilling to have them contribute, and even more so to read their other work (and see how well received it was).

What's the best/most interesting thing you've read lately?

I finished HOW TO DISAPPEAR COMPLETELY by Kelsey Osgood the other day and have thought of little else since then. It’s so much more than an anorexia memoir. Kelsey looks critically at the disease, how it’s been chronicaled in the past, how we can discuss it in the future. It’s so smart, so powerful. It’s such an important book, especially for women. It’s uncomfortable at times, as it can be like holding up a mirror to yourself and only seeing the ugliest parts of yourself.

Alex Quintanilla received a BA in English from Rice University. She has taught in rural Spain and currently attends medical school in Texas. When not learning about the human body, she writes, reads, and spends too much time on the internet.